Questions

1. In your own words, distinguish between a group and a team.

Group Team

Members work independently and they Members work interdependently and

often are not working towards the same work towards both personal and team
goal. goals, and they understand these goals are
accomplished best by mutual support.
 Members focus mostly on themselves Members feel a sense of ownership
because they are not involved in the towards their role in the group because
planning of their group's objectives and they committed themselves to goals, they
goals. helped create.

Members are given their tasks or told Members collaborate together and use
what their duty/job is, and suggestions are their talent and experience to contribute to
rarely welcomed. the success of the team's objectives.
Members are very cautious about what Members base their success on trust and
they say and are afraid to ask questions. encourage all members to express their
They may not fully understand what is opinions, varying views, and questions.
taking place in their group

2. Describe your best and worst experience in a group/team work since you have been at UTech.

We are all grouped in a team of 5 and we learn together as a class, and then do discussions

and worksheets together before then proceeding to research and finalizing our concepts and

deciding who to present which slides. The most positive experience of all is when everyone is

in sync. All of us understand what is going on. Our teamwork was on point even when last

min our facilitator randomly switch our roles to present different slides, because sometimes

there’s too much info to present we only remember our own slides and how to present them.

On the other hand, my negative experience, there was this project in University where I was

unavailable at school for the first two days of the project week and had to work remotely. The

professor assigned agreed and me to a group and as any other student would, I planned to

work hard with this project alongside the other group members at school. I asked the other

members about how I could contribute and let me know if they required anything, but never

got any replies from them. On Wednesday, I was back at school and spoke to the group

members personally. There was this girl who sent me long messages as to what I had done to

“deserve” a place in the group. This disturbed me and I requested the professor to have an

individual presentation. I went to the professor and I explained my situation and also showed

him the text that was send to me, he allowed me to do the work on my own.
3. Using any 10 of the content area/concepts learnt in the lecture on teams and groups (concepts

listed above), explain the performance of the team/group you mentioned in question #2.

For my best experience

Concepts in Teams and groups Performance rating

Formal group I was placed in a group by the lecture

with individuals from the same course I

did, so we knew each other very well. I

would give the group 95%.

Size We had 5 members in our group so we

interacted with each other easily. I

would give the group 90%.

Cohesiveness We were all females, friends in the

group and we had one goal in mind. I

would give the group 95%.

Status We all different duties in the group.

Each of us was responsible for a

particular question and a person was

assigned to put of all the questions

together. I would give the group 87%.

Norm When doing any type of presentation,

the group members all would wear

formal wear. I would give the group

98%.
Flexibility Although each member got different

questions to focus on, we all knew

information on all the questions the

group had just in case one of the

 members could not make it on the day

of the presentation. I would give the

group 80%.
Accountability One person in the group was assigned to

put the questions together on the

PowerPoint. I would give the group

95%.
Social loafing Every member in the group approach

the group work and presentation in an

equal effort. Each person got four slides

to present on. I would give the group

92%.
Diversity We didn’t have much diversity in the

group so we didn’t have much

differences in opinions.
Informal group The group was a form of informal group

on some occasion. The group was small

and we didn’t have any leaders.

4. Using the OB Model, what variables account for the group’s performance? Discuss the role

of diversity and creativity in the said team/group.

 The group level variables and the individual level variables are variables that account for

group performance.

 They weren’t much diversity but there was creativity in the group. One of the group members

was really good in excel, so that person was doing the excel spreadsheet part of the project.

Another person in the group was good at designing pages in Microsoft word, so that person
 was responsibly for the design of the project. Each person in the group was good in an area

that could contribute to the project. Teams can use personal creativity-diversity techniques in

order to generate more creative ideas. In addition, team leaders and those putting together

teams should strive for diversification. Such people will provide a wider range of knowledge

from which to extract information and build upon ideas.

5. Elaborate this situation as mentioned in question #2 into an organization; how do you think

each of your group members would behave and the likely impact on the organization using

the relevant OB variables? Take it from many different perspectives.

 Each member got a question to do in the project, so each person was accountable for their

own questions. The best leaders in the business understand the power of ownership. Giving

ownership to the team members means nothing but letting them take their own decisions and

making them accountable for their work. When you make a team member accountable for his

work, this induces a sense of responsibility in him regarding his work. He starts to see his

work differently in a way that his decisions can impact the performance of the entire team.

Now, giving ownership can take different forms like leading a project, handling the

responsibility of a task etc. It shows that you’ve entrusted him and his capabilities to handle a

specific job. And when you do this, you realize that there is nothing more powerful than

building someone’s self-esteem in your organization.

 We were from the same courses and we are friends so we liked each other. Members of

cohesive groups derive more satisfaction than those of non-cohesive groups. They get support

from fellow members. They get more opportunities to interact. They are protected against

external threats. They succeed in their work. They have better friends at the workplace than

others. All these factors provide immense satisfaction to the group member than any other
 person at the workplace. Active participation of member in decision making gives him more

satisfaction.

 Groups are essential part of any organisation. Groups are of immense help to the manager in

his day-to-day management. Cohesive groups are effective. Manager must allow the groups

to be cohesive. Effective group leads to higher productivity because of low turnover and low

absenteeism.

6. In your own words, what is group think and group shift? To what extent were these two

concepts highlighted in the group you mentioned in question #2.

 Groupthink is a phenomenon that occurs when a group of people comes together and begin to

think together with one mind. Members of a group make decisions based on the pressure that

they get from the group.

 Groupshift is when an individual in the group changes to adopt a more extreme position due

to the influence of the group.

 In the group mentioned in #2, on a scale of 1-10 Group thinking occurred on a scale of 1

because we did brainstorm and discussions in order to avoid group thinking. Brainstorming

technique is very effective when the problem is comparatively precise and can be simply

defined. A complex problem can be divided into parts and each part can be dealt with

separately at a time.

 In the group mentioned in #2, on a scale of 1-10 Group shifting occurred on a scale of 1

because we did Delphi Technique. This technique involves obtaining the opinions of experts

physically distant from each other and unknown to each other.

7. Evaluate each group member’s performance in the context of the group properties.

Group Properties (Roles, Norms, Status, Size, Cohesiveness)

 Group members Performance
1 8
2 8
3 9
4 7
5 9

8. Using the OB Model variables, design your own model to express the experience of either the

best or worst group experience as indicated in question # 2.

SOCIO-EMOTIONAL
PROCESS
 Cohesion
 Trust
 Friends
INPUTS OUTPUTS

 Small group of 5  Performance
 Informal group  Satisfaction
 Role and goal  Low absenteeism
clarity
TASK PROCESS
 Equal efforts
 Task control  Good
communication
 Coordination
 Brainstorm
 Discussion
 Individual questions

9. How do you turn individuals into team players?

A team serves as an organization whose individual efforts lead to performance is higher than

the sum of the average person inputs. A team creates positive synergy through coordinated

effort[ CITATION Man18 \l 8201 ].

Hiring the right Individuals

Some individuals will have previously the interpersonal skills to work team players. Usually,

when employing staff, aside from their technical skills, it is important to ensure that the

candidates have the necessary skills to fulfil their roles as team members.

Training

There are different ways in which individuals can learn to become team players.

There are training exercises that can be used to show the value of team accomplishments, and

to go through the satisfaction that team work can offer.

Workshops can be offered to help employees improve their skills. These skills include

communication, problem solving, negotiation and conflict management, amidst other skills.

They should be studied through different models of group development, such as the five-

stage group-development model which emphasises on the five stages that groups should go

through. These stages are the forming stage, storming stage, norming stage, performing stage

and the adjourning stage.

Proper rewarding systems

Organization's reward systems should be reworked to encourage cooperative efforts rather

than competitive ones. Group-based appraisals should be encouraged to bolster team effort

and commitment. Promotions, pay raises, and other kinds of recognition should get to those

who work effectively as collaborative associates.

 References

Group think and Group shift . (2008, May 09).

Retrieved from Citeman
https://www.citeman.com/3177-group-think-and-group-shift.html
GroupThink & GroupShift - Individual and Group Behavior. (n.d.).
Retrieved from Wisdom Jobs
https://www.wisdomjobs.com/e-university/individual-and-group-behavior-tutorial-
2672/groupthink-groupshift-27006.html
Management turning individuals into team players . (2018, November ).
Retrieved from Essays UK
https://www.ukessays.com/essays/management/turning-individuals-into-team-
players-management-essay.php
Organizational Behaviour with groups . (n.d.).
Retrieved from Tutorials point :
https://www.tutorialspoint.com/organizational_behavior/organizational_behavior_gro
ups.htm
Sisson, J. (2013, June 14). The difference between a group and a team .
Retrieved from Biz Journals
https://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/how-to/growth-strategies/2013/06/the-
difference-between-a-group-and-a.html